Portable display device.



No. 694,690. Patented Mar. 4, I902.

T. E. STARK.

PORTABLE DISPLAY DEVIGE.

(Application filed Sept. 10V 1901.)

(No Mod l.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W i sv? l y, l jf i 3a l *AJ i THE NOHRIS PETERS co.. PNOO'YHO WASHINGTON. u. c.

UNITEI STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TRUMAN E. STARK, OF NAPERVILLE, ILLINOIS.

PO RTAB LE D ISPLAY DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 694,690, dated March 4:, 1902.

Application filed September 10,1901. Serial No. 74,907. (Ijo model.) 4

To all wwm it may concern:

Be it known that I, TRUMAN E. STARK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Naperville, county of Dhpage, and State of Illinois, have invente d certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Display Devices, of Which the following is a specification, and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

This invention relates to improvements in devices for exhibitin picture-albums, panorama, samples, and similar matter, and has particular reference to an article of the class referred to which is adapted tobe folded into compact form, so as to be conveniently carried by hand, and which may be readily set up for the purposes for which it is intended.

The object of the invention is to provide a device of this character Which shall besimple in constructiomneat in appearance, and easy of manipulation; and it consists in the various parts and combination of parts, as hereinafter fully described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a perspective of the invention embodied in a display-raek for picture-album and unfolded. Fig. 2 is a plan 'of the same when closed or folded. Fig. 3 is a' side 'elevation of`the device also folded. Fig. 4,

is a side elevation of an album or displayca'rd which may be employed with the device and which is'shown in position in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a detail of the clasp used for secu r-- nal section of the construction illustrated in Fig. 6, showing the same reversed or inverted for displaying the panorama on the other side of the scroll and also themechanismfor distending thesupport of the casing. Fig. 10 is a sectional detail of the device on an enlarged Scale. also on an enlarged Scale, of the mechanism .in the folding of the same.

Figs. 11, 13, and'14 relate to details,

for distending the support; and Fig. 12 is a detail, on a still larger Scale, of one of the parts.

Referring to the construction illustrated in' Fig. 1, 20 indicates a base Which may be an oblong rectangular boX or casing, in which the picture-album or Other matter (designated 21) is designed to be placed while not being exhibited; This casing 20 may be made of cardboard or other materialsufficiently light to'r ender the device easily portable and yet strong and durable enough to maintain its Shap e and is provided with an open front end 22.

. The easel or rack 25 for the album to be displayed rests when the eXhibitor is open upon the top of the casing 20, and its upper end is ,designed to be inclined rearwardly, so as to better display' the matter thereon. As shown in Fig. `1, the easel is sustained bya support- :ing leg or fiap 26, which is flexibly connected to or near the rear end of the casing 21 and also to the back of the easel near the top of the latter.

In addition tothe flap,26 for supporting the easel a pair of links 27 are provided, which serve to hold the easel in position and also aid One end of each of said links is pivoted at each side of the base or casing 20 and between the lower end of theeasel 25 when elevated'and the rear edge of the said base,`the other end of such link being pivoted at the edge of the easel and near the bottom thereof The album 21, the sheets of Which may be' protected when not in use by a flap 28, held by a clasp 29, pivoted to the back of the album, is secured to the eaself25 by springclasps 30, as shown.

When itisdesired t`o fold up the exhibitor between its covers-that is to say, between the base 20 and the flap 26-'the album is removed 'from the easel and placed in .the receptacle p rovi ded for it within the casing. The easel 2,5 is 'then lifte d up and its lower end swung :or pushed over on thelinks 27, following the course indicated by the dotted line, Fig. 1, and back' under. the flap 26, which assumes a more nearly Vertical position during this movement, andthen folds or is folded over the top of the easel, as shown in Fig. 3, pro- Viding a cover for the latter. A fiap 24, flexi- IOO construction.

bly connected to the front end of the casing 20 and provided With a clasp 24% fastens the support or cover 26 when closed.

The construction of the modification of the invention illustrated in Figs. 6 to 12 is in part substantially the same as that of the device heretofore described, as will be Seen on reference to Figs. 6 and 7. Referring to such figures, the easel or rack is in the form of a casing 31, which is of the ordinary construction used for displaying panorama-scrolls, and contains within the same the usual rollers 32, idlers 33, and scroll 34. Each face 35 36 of the casing 31, however, is provided with a sight-aperture, as 35 and 36, in order that the scroll may be provided With panorama or pictures placed upon both sides of the same and Viewed without reversing Or changing the scroll, the arrangement of rollers being such that the opposite sides of the scroll will be exposed through the apertures in the opposite faces of the panorama-casing.

The casing 31 is sustained When in the position shown in Figs. 6 'and 8 by a flap Or cover 38, fleXibly connected to the casing 31, near the upper end thereof, and also to the upper edge of a Strip or back 39, lying trans- Versely to the cover 37 and at the rear edge of the same. This strip 39 is of the thickness of the casing 31, so that it may fit over that end of the casing which is the bottom in Figs. 6 and 8 and the top when the device is inverted, as shown .in Fig. 9, as will be eX- plained hereinafter. The lap oI' cover 38 corresponds to the supporting-flap 26 of Fig. 1.

The lower end of the casing 31, still refer- 'ring to Figs. 6 and 8, rests upon the other cover 37 of the casing, which serves as a base and is connected thereto by links 40, similar in arrangement to the links 27 of the former A flap 41, fastened by a pivoted catch 41% is provided for closing over the face 35 of the casing.

When it is desired to display the panorama or pictures on the opposite side of the scroll 34, the flap 41 is closed and the casing 31 folded between the cover 37 and the cover 38 in the manner heretot'ore described in connection With the construction illustrated in Fig. 1, the end of the casing adjacent to the links 40 fitting up against the transverse strip 39. The exhibitor is then inverted, the opposite end thus becoming the base, as is shown in Figs. 9 and 10. Referring to these figures, it will be seen that the cover 38,which when the device is in the position shown in Figs. 6 and 8 serves as a support for the casing 31, is provided with a panel 38% forming a cover for the face 36 of the casing and which when closed is secured bya fastening device 43. In this position also the cover or base 37 is located back of the face 35 of the casing. Pivoted between its ends to the front or face 36 of the casing and near the lower end thereof and so'as to play in a Vertical slot 43 cut in the said front and bottom of the casing, is a lever 44, the front end of which is tubular.

Telescoping with said tubular endof the lever 44 is a link 45, which is pivoted to the panel 38% near the juncture of the same with the face 36, and connected to the opposite end of the lever 44 by a knuckle-joint is a link 46, which in turn is joined to the free end of the cover 37. This connection of the link 46 With the fiap 37 is by means of a pintle 47, sliding through a pair of eyes 48 of a plate 49, secured to the cover 37 and engaging the eye 50 at the adjacent end of the link 46. The pintle 47 has a slot 51, as seen in Fig. 12, and is held against removal from the plate 49 by a pin 52, passing through Said slot.

When the device is to be Set up in the position illustrated in Figs. 6 and 8, it is necessary to disconnect the link 46 from the cover 37, and this is done by sliding the pintle 47 out of engagement with the eye 50 of the link 46, and such connection is again restablished by sliding the pintle back through the eye of the link.

It Will be readily understood that when the panel 38` is opened the cover 37 at the rear of the face 35 of the casing will by means of the leVer-and-link connection just described be moved outwardly, being permitted to do so by reason of its flexible connection with the front 36 of the casing, and the latter being tilted backward it will be sustained by the said cover 37, which now serves the func tion of a support. When the panel 38 is closed, the flap 37 is again drawn back against the face of the casing, and the exhibiting device is in its folded condition, the device then presenting somewhat the appearance of a book with covers 37 and 38 and back 39.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a display device, in combination, a base, an easel, a link uniting the base and the easel, and a support for the easel hinged to the easel and to the base.

2. In a display device, in combination, a base, an easel, a pair of links unitin g the base and the easel and secured to the former intermediate of its ends, and a support for the easel hin ged to the easel and to the base.

3. In a display device, in combination, a base, an easel, a pair of links uniting the base and the easel and secured to the former intermediate of its ends, and a support for the easel.

4. In a display device, in combination, a base, an easel, a link uniting the base and easel and secured to the former intermediate of its ends, and a support for the easel.

5. In a display device, in combination, a base, an easel in box form and having openings in its front and back sides, a pair of links uniting the base and the easel and secured to the former intermediate ofits ends, and a support for the easel hinged thereto and to the base and having an openable panel.

6. In a display device, in combination, a base, an easel in box form and having openings in its front and back sides, a pair of links IIO uniting the base and the easel and secured to the former intermeiate of its ends, a telethe former ntermediate of its ends, a level' seopieally-extensible leverpivoted to the easel IO pivoted to the easel and to the panel, and a and to the panel, and a link detaehably conlink detaehably connecting the level' to the meeting the level' to the base.

5 base. TRUMAN E. STARK.

7. In a display device, in eombination a Witnesses: base, an easel in box form, a pair of links LOUIS K. GILLSON,

unitng the base and the easel and secured to' E. M. KLATCHER. 

